Good morning and congratulations for making it to another Friday.
The Minneapolis City Council on Thursday passed a policy requiring higher pay and more workplace protections for rideshare drivers operating in the city, although it faces a possible veto from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who had asked the council to delay the vote. MPR’s Jon Collins reports the ordinance passed 7-5 despite threats from rideshare companies Uber and Lyft threatening to stop operating in the city if the provision was put in place. The proposal would set minimum compensation for drivers and create a process for drivers to appeal after they’re deactivated. It would also ban the use of gift cards for rides, which drivers said are often exploited to commit crimes against drivers. Frey asked the council to delay the effective date of the ordinance until after the upcoming legislative session. A state working group is tasked with making legislative recommendations on the issue by January. Rideshare drivers had pressed the council to take action after a similar bill at the state level was vetoed by Gov. Tim Walz. Frey has five days to decide whether to veto the ordinance. It would take nine votes to override.
Authorities in Fargo on Thursday released body camera footage of a man fatally shooting a police officer before another officer killed him on July 14. MPR’s Dan Kraker reports the footage shows officers and other first responders at the scene of a car accident, and records the moment a barrage of shots were fired at them. “We’ve got a man with an AK-47 — he’s shooting at us!” Officer Zach Robinson yells into his radio. “Three officers down — send everybody!” he continued. The footage shows Robinson moving toward the shooter, whom police have identified as Mohamad Barakat, as he fired from the side of a car parked just off the street where the initial car crash took place that brought officers to the scene. “Hands up! Hands up!” Robinson yells repeatedly as he fires at Barakat and moves from the street to the back of the car where Barakat is lying, followed by six commands of “Drop the gun!” as he fires at the suspect. North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said Robinson fired 31 rounds at Barakat, hitting him 21 times. Wrigley said one minute and 46 seconds elapsed before Robinson “neutralized” Barakat with five shots. “This is not television,” Wrigley said. “A minute 46 seconds is a lifetime. That is a very long turn of events.”
A Minnesota woman pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony in connection with the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. MPR’s Matt Sepic reports: Appearing in a Washington, D.C. federal courtroom, Victoria Charity White, 41, of Rochester, admitted to helping hoist up a fellow rioter outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 who then made his way to a tunnel entrance and kicked police. About 25 minutes later, Metropolitan Police arrested White after she and others tried to push through a line of officers. Federal prosecutors have charged more than 1,100 people nationwide, including a dozen Minnesotans, in connection with Donald Trump's last-ditch attempt to remain in power by disrupting the counting of electoral votes. White is the fifth Minnesota resident to be convicted in connection with the assault.
Minnesota’s unemployment rate inched up for July to 3 percent. MPR’s Brian Bakst reports that was one tenth of a point higher than the month before. It remains low by historical standards. This was the 20th-straight month at or below 3 percent. Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is lower than the 3.5 percent rate for the nation as a whole. Minnesota’s labor force grew slightly but so did the number of people counted as unemployed. On another closely watched metric, private sector wage growth is outpacing the inflation rate in the latest statistics.
Hennepin County Commissioner Chris LaTondresse announced his resignation Thursday. MPR’s Alex V. Cipolle reports LaTondresse is leaving the board to become CEO of the Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, a local affordable housing nonprofit. LaTondresse has served district six since 2021. His term would have ended in January 2025. He was chair of the county's Housing and Redevelopment Authority. He says he took the position because the housing crisis in Minnesota is growing more urgent. "I think it sends a message that housing is an increasingly important topic on the minds of policymakers, advocates, community members, voters alike, that we all need to be paying more attention to and scaling our response to." LaTondresse said. He said he's been in talks with Beacon since April. His last day as commissioner is Sept. 21. The county board will be announcing the date of a special election to fill the vacancy in the coming days. | 